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This presentation is brought to you by the generosity of the Ewing Pros, Reinhart Realtors, Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation Department, and Ann Arbor State Bank.

Before the end of the last ice age, what we know today as Ann Arbor's Huron River corridor is estimated to have been buried under two miles of glacial ice. As the world warmed and ice receded, a new landscape was revealed, forever changing the area's topography and defining the path the Huron River would take for the next 100,000 years.

It is fitting that such a force would have an impact on the land and those inhabiting its bounds. Today, Ann Arbor and its metro area has evolved far beyond what its founders came upon in the spring of 1824. Thanks to the diligence of its citizens and the watchful stewardship of an adroit Parks & Recreation Department for over a century, preservation of remaining natural space and development of meaningful park facilities has been prioritized and repeatedly supported by the Ann Arbor community. With 158 parks totaling about 2100 acres, headlining activities far and wide from golf to kayaking and everything in between, it's fair to wonder what gave way to such a persistent philosophy and cultural spirit regarding the safety and stewardship of our beloved river valley.

"Once the battle is lost, once our natural splendor is destroyed, it can never be recaptured. And once man can no longer walk with beauty, or wonder at nature, his spirit will wither and his sustenance be wasted."- Lyndon B Johnson 1964 UofM Commencement Address
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